11/16/2014: In all of our lives we are going to go through something radical, earth shattering that is going to completely rework the way we think, live, what we value, what we believe and how we deal with stress and adversity. Im no stranger to pain. Ive bred myself off of it. I feed off of it and its helped me find my purpose. the hardest journeys are the best teachers.
Many of the things these past two years has thrown at me I am still processing. Some things I will choose to leave out because they bring up a lot. I went on an odyssey, not a vacation. A real journey isn’t a chronological series of events that happened your life, it’s the path you took to deal with your misery and what you still struggle with and how you chose to do what you had to to unfuck your world.
In class we just finished a novel about 2 individuals who had to deal with change. during telemachus’s journey, he came out a totally different person, a real man. he shed his childish fears and the bittersweet memories at home to really focus on what was important in his life. Odysseus, grew to even love adventure years later. it was how he was broken down and rebirthed into a wise and resillient individual.
when i went on my odyssey, one of the amazing things is that i realized is that it isnt just for me, odysseus had to realize how insignificant he was in the eyes of the gods. he was thinking only of himself and refusing to see the bigger picture. he had to humble his egoistic tenancies so he could be an effective leader for his people because they needed him. when i was out in the wild, i saw my unimportance. the desert didnt care for me and validate me like society would and i saw that i was such a small part of a giant, mesteriously beautiful world. but it gave me a sense of responsibility to be functioning as a part of this greater good. i wanted to bring this sense of enlightened awareness into my own life back home and to be a stronger individual for my own people.
i was stuck freshmen year in something i couldnt understand. why was life treating me so unfairly? why did her leaving hurt me so bad? why is it so hard to move on? it did not matter how easy life in greenwich connecticut was. it didnt matter how much stuff i had and how much and how much pity i got or what i had here to get my mind off it. i couldnt feel any of it, something more important in my life was missing and all i knew was that i had to change it all and start over again to find my own purpose. I had to do something. i wanted to escape and leave all of the drama behind. i wanted to be isolated from this life and i thought id have it easier. i had no idea how far i had to grind myself down, how much pain i had to endure to find my limit. this was my odyssey.
life at home was beggining to be unbearable. upon meeting with a professional, i was told that there were programs that would take boys my age to the grand staircase escalante in southern utah to survive in the desert. it was almost 2 million acres (3000 square miles) of untouched federal land and i offered to go for one month through their program. i left on march 3rd of 2013 to fly to las vegas and be driven to the headquarters in kanab. the building was a small office and a gear room where i was outfitted with a back pack, boots, fart sack, a bag of powdered food, vegetables and dried fruits and dried beans. rope, a tarp, a ground pad and other miscelaneous survival items. the majority of items i would need, i would have to make myself.
next thing i knew, i was on a truck driving for the next five hours out into the bush. the driver offered me some burger king but i wasnt all that hungry. i was too excited and nervous for what was ahead of me. i started to question what i was getting myself into, but it was too late now. we had reached the campsite and the first thing i remember upon walking into the camp was the glow of the fire on all the boys faces. their scruffy dirty faces all looked at me as if i were a pile of fresh meat and no one looked to be sympathetic to my prescence there. the next few days were extremley awkward as my daily life completley transformed into trying to fit in with a completley different way of living. any spare time i had wsa devoted to looking for any sort of fire wood that was actually dry. that was the most unusual part for me because i had no idea that upon travelling to the desert, the entire landscape would be blanketed in a foot and a half of snow.
how the hell does it snow in the middle of the desert!? it looked nothing like i had imagine. beautiful yes, but the beautify would never outweigh the kinds of obstacles and burdens that came with it. i learned that apparently utah had multiple, lovely seasons that i was going to be apart of. i had just arrived at the end of winter. i had to endure a couple more snowstorms untill things started to melt down. after that came a series of hot and arid days or humid and sticky days for the couple weeks of spring. after that it was monsoon season. it is exacctly what it sounds like. torrential downpours of rain, wind and thunder that would leech you of warmth and sleep.
in short, not after 2 weeks, my life allready once again started to deteriorate. i missed home, my morale was dead, every day the life out there pounded away at my mind. i was constantly getting sick, and i regretted getting myself stuck in this godforsaken desert with these people. i told john, the coordinator of the group and architect of my misery that this was allready too much for me, i couldnt hack it out here. four weeks was too long to be out in this place. i had never been away from my home for more than 2. john had told me that my mom had payed for me to actually stay in utah for 2 months. i thought he was batshit crazy. out in this hell for 2 months!? i was going to miss my 15th birthday out here. that killed me. i was backstabbed. what did i do to deserve this from anyone? here i am trying to figure out how to better my life and poseiden over here decides to keep me from getting back home longer than i was supposed to be. i came out here because i was hurt and i needed to get away from this pain, not be forced to deal with more stress. it was all so overwhelming.
weeks passed and i started to learn the ropes of life in west juhunga nowhere.. wake up, check for scorpions, pack your sack, eat fast, clean the camp, hike 3 miles, take a break. hike 3 more miles to reach camp. oh someone forgot something? hike back 6 miles at night to go retrieve it. this is how you make fire with sticks, this is how you dig a latrine, this is how you dont get disentary, this is how you clean the blisters on your feet, this is what you do when a hot coal pops in your face. i couldnt understand how all this was supposed to make me a better person when it all was just beating me down. i wouldnt come to realize it untill a few days after my birthday when i came closer to death than i had those entire few months.
April 5th the group was going on a day hike through a canyon because we were told we would find petroglyphs at the end. six miles there and six miles back. since it was a day hike, we planned on packing light. that meant no gear other than your canteen, a leather satchel and light food. we set out early that morning and hit the mouth of the canyon after about 3 miles. we thought that this day hike was going to be a breeze untill we noticed that the walls of the canyon started to grow much higher and that we were in the middle of a deep wash. we saw the meander of the wash on the map and did not expect much. turned out the washed were 20 feet high so we had to follow its zig zag through most of the canyon, literally doubling the distance. about half way through the group ran out of food and water but desperate to see the petroglyphs, we pushed on.
on the 10th mile, most of the group wanted to head back, it was getting dark and people were getting dehydrated. so the senior guide Court took a small band of 5 people including myself to go the last 2 miles. after dealing with hunger and some quick sand, we came upon a huge cow in the middle of a small river we were trying to cross. not thinking much of it, court herded it off. we kept seeing cow after cow and the occasional bull untill they had all regrouped in the middle of our path behind the biggest bull i had ever seen. these animals were free range so no one kept an eye on them and we were in their territory now. court, the pacifist hippie told everyone to pick up rock, this got me worried. i dropped my hiking staff and picked up the biggest hunk of stone in my reach.
the beast grunted at court and hoofed at the water as court tried to herd it off. i could feel the dry poures in the rock soaking the sweat off my clamy hands. i saw its head lower and its huge shoulders tense up. my mind was racing. here we were in the middle of a canyon, no food or water for miles, no sat phone and quite literally a stones throw away, fuzzy death was painting a target on our guts with his eyes. i dont know how i get myself into this stuff. i hurled my rock at the bull but it missed and hit some rocks at its feet. i thought we were dead but the whole herd took off running down river. “could this day get any freakin worse?” i asked my friend chris as we stood there processing what just happened.
looking back on it 20 years from now, i probably will laugh it off as just another crazy memory, i probably wont what i learned in that moment or realize how that journey still affects me years later. it was painfull, yes but i cant say ive accomplished more in my whole life than i did in those few months. sometimes i wonder what would have happened if i could have gone home. i wouldnt have nearly the same amount of self respect if i hadnt earned it that way. i learned that its harder to appreciate what you have untill you come close to losing it all. no home, no phone, car, electricity, saftey. its hard to imagine life without all that. but life is so much more rich when you can look forward to every time you have running water, hot meals and new clothes. i think i can speak for odysseus and telemachus when i say that and especially when we now know that a smooth sea never made skilled sailors.

Introduction: The cadet has been a controversial subject of american society that need to be recognized and preserved.
Hook: what would you think if i told you that there were little westpoints all over the country? private military academies and cadet corps that taught military values to children, some far before they were even of age to comission? what is the point of a military academy? are they sucsessful? why do many disagree on the morality of these students recieving the training that they have?
Background (cite) A cadet is a young member of society that receives prior military and law enforcement experience to contribute to mainly domestic affairs with professionalism and distinction. “The term cadet is used in the United States to denote the military rank of students at the United States Military Academy and United States Air Force Academy. Members of the Reserve Officers Training Corps for the army and air force are called cadets. Students at the British Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, are gentlemen-cadets.Cadet is applied also to members of the student body at some private military schools and academies.” (“Cadet.” International Military and Defense Encyclopedia. 2)
Thesis/Claim: many of these cadets will be the future for the face of the united state’s foreign policy. though the image of youth military programs have been blemished, they are vital to preserve for maintaining discipline among america’s youth and promoting a strong patriotic bond between the military and civilian world..
Summary of main supporting ideas: my research is about the significance of the cadet corps. i am researching what kind of values they live by, where they recieve training and how they have impacted us domestically and in military application and why we need to preserve these academies and programs despite the negative image they have recieved the past few decades.
Counter Argument: many argue against the thought of giving these kinds of skills and training to america’s youth. the “woodstock” generation of parents do not see it as morally proper to subject their children to this kind of environment. they believe that the strict military environment is a breeding ground for bullying and hazing of subordinates. they envision a scenario similar to that of the movie Major Payne where rebel children are harassed and demoralized against their will and forced to join the military. they see military schools as a way to hide away societies misfit children in hopes that the environment will straighten them out or keep them there. “We believe the military is not an educational institution,” said Shannon K. McManimon of the American Friends Service Committee’s National Youth and Militarism Program, a Philadelphia-based Quaker organization aimed at reducing military influence in the nation’s schools. “That’s not its purpose. That’s not what it’s there for. That’s not what people in the military are trained for.” (“Military schools see end of a long decline.”)
Weakness of counterpoint: the misconceived connection between cadet academies and alternative schools blows the military aspect of military schools way out of proportion and has led to the crippling of countless cadet programs and schools. it ought to be made clear that the aim of these schools should not be to funnel child delinquents in need of serious discipline. the mission is to instill good morals and values to create tomorrow’s most outstanding leaders. i have heard countless comparisons of military schools being compared to correctional programs. these schools emphasize on altering the behavior of those who experience severe emotional and behavioral difficulties. military schools on the other hand focus hard on teaching good habits with discipline and structure to those looking to excell in their given career path and in their general lives. many do not see the difference because the military model is so effective in that it stresses breaking down the individualism with high intensity in a cadet and promotes leadership and team effort. this is why it is so efficient at producing out cadets with leadership skills of the highest caliber. this is also why parents with misbehaving children seek out military schools to reform their child because the structure is designed to keep cadets on a good path. the reality is, the cadet needs to be a self motivator to forge his or her own future. contaminating the corps of cadets with kids who really should be in actual alternative schools can atually upset the ability of the school to function as properly and efficiently as they should. needless to say, the structure of military programs has shown that it can reform a troubled child into someone of potential for achievement.

Evidence: There is no physical hazing of plebes. ”Peer pressure is important, but it has to be positive peer pressure,” said Col. Donn Miller, dean of the academy, the equivalent to principal of a high school. ”We use military techniques, but the goal is not a military career, but to teach these young men how to discipline themselves.” (“Military schools not easy, but results are self-evident // ’90s military schools do about-face 9)
Explain: dispite the common misconception, cadets arent beaten or hazed in order to become accepted into a corps of cadets. though the pressure is tough and the demands strict, the goal is to build self sufficiency and espirit de corps.
Weakness 2
Evidence : ”We want to admit people not because they have the right social standing or money, but because they have the capability to learn and develop,” he said. As American attitudes toward military schools have changed, so have the schools themselves, turning their attention and energy to character-building as much as to discipline and academic achievement. Honor codes that prohibit lying, cheating and stealing are fixtures at all military schools. (“Military schools not easy, but results are self-evident // ’90s military schools do about-face 10)
Explain: the ideal person to be admitted to a military academy is someone of potential to grow and develop leadership schools. this is why these schools have core values to provide a sense of right and wrong and remind the cadets why they are who they are.
Major Point 1: (exemplary cadets) recieving this training early on turns out many outstanding members of society. people who know how to think clearly and professionaly in times of desperation or with a lack of leadership. the evidence shows that the cadet has the ability to make quick descicions when the saftey of others is at stake. there are countless occasions where exemplary cadets took the initiative in hazardous situations and utilized their training to ensure the security of others and maintain order. the evidence shows that the cadet has the ability to make quick descicions when the saftey of others is at stake. there are countless occasions where exemplary cadets took the initiative in hazardous situations and utilized their training to ensure the security of others and maintain order.
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: “It’s not that Alec isn’t thankful for the recognition. But when he saved a man’s life in October, he said he wasn’t being a “hero” – he used air quotes for the word – he was just doing what a good citizen should. The Hillsborough County School Board recognized Alec for his actions during Tuesday night’s student achievement ceremony. Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Hector Pagan awarded Alec with the Medal of Heroism, the highest award a cadet can receive.” (“JROTC CADET RECEIVES HIGHEST HONOR FOR RESCUE” )
Explanation : cadet leslie is a perfect instance and one of many who were able to take action in the right oppourtunity where his bravery and knowlege proved critical in a life or death situation. without Lesie’s expertise, McNutt most likley would have not come out of his crash alive. He believes that all JROTC should be required to recieve this training. Leslie hold his corps to a high standard. he believes that JROTC can be a tool to improve life domestically and be used for more than just commisioning officers. he applied the skills he used of stabalizing the mans, neck and ensuring that he was consious through the training he recieved in his first aid and emergency assistance training in scouting and refresher courses at the JROTC program he attended at his highschool. Leslie kept McNutt consious untill he was taken to a hospital where he underwent 15 operations for broken ribs, a broken back and collapsed lungs. Cadet Leslie recieved the Medal of Heroism from his JROTC officials for his actions that day. Alec believes everyone should go through first aid and emergency response training. If he had his way, all students would be JROTC members, too. “It doesn’t violate your constitutional rights to have to do some pushups,” Alec said. “I believe it teaches people how to be leaders. It makes our citizens start out at a base level of being good adults of a good community.” (“JROTC CADET RECEIVES HIGHEST HONOR FOR RESCUE”) incidents like this prove that the training and skills of JROTC cadets are invaluable in times of danger. model cadets like this one have a sense of pride when it comes to humanity and try to set an example for everything they do. these actions serve as a basis for what every jrotc cadet follow.
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: Another Cadet who was prepared when distaster stuck was Cadet Atkinson of the 533 Sgt. Tommy Prince Royal Canadian Army Cadets Corps. Atkinson turned 19 a half hour before rushing into a smoke-filled apartment of the Lord Selkirk Park Towers in Winnipeg on October 23, 2004. (“Native youth saves fire victims.” 1)
Explanation: this cadet demonstrates outstanding bravery in the face of danger. putting others before himself when he rescued a man in critical condition from a burning apartment. his actions are a reflection of the skills and mindset that cadets have because of their training. when others are in hazardous situations, cadets like Atkinson have the ability to do their duty as if it were second nature. Atkinson says that his training he recieved from his cadet corps helped him save this mas life and taught him values of selflessness and courage to guide him to make his desicion. cadets like this credit their actions as a reflection to the countless hours of hard training they recieve from being a cadet. he claimed not to be the hero when he was congratulated by a friend. “It was someone else. I was only doing what I was supposed to, I’m proud that I did the best I could. Atkinson claims that his military training as a cadet helped him to make the right decision. “I was trained to assess the situation and go with the best possible solution. That’s what I did. It was a natural reflex.” (“Native youth saves fire victims.”2)
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: “On Thursday, with the thousand-strong Corps of Cadets stretched out along the cemetery’s hill, the U.S. Air Force posthumously awarded La Porte, of Dumont, New Jersey, the Airman’s Medal for his actions on the morning of the massacre at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. The medal is the highest award for heroism an airman can receive when not directly involved in combat with an armed enemy of the United States.” (“Heroism of Air Force cadet in Virginia Tech massacre is officially recognized.” ) in addition (retired Air Force Lt. Col. Keith Gay spoke of a 20-year-old sophomore in his intermediate French class who, even after the professor told the class to hide in the back of the room, ran to the front to help other students barricade the door. “When the shooter forced his way into the classroom, Cadet La Porte, in complete disregard for his own safety, unhesitatingly charged the shooter . . . drawing heavy fire at close range and sustaining seven gunshot wounds,” Gay read. “He sacrificed his own life in an attempt to save others.”) (“Heroism of Air Force cadet in Virginia Tech massacre is officially recognized.”)
Explanation: when your training is oriented towards combat or protecting the lives of others, there is no room to stop and seond guess yourself. you have to make sure you are ready and willing to sacrifice in order to provide security for others around you. in the case of Cadet Matt LaPorte of Virginia Tech’s corps of cadets LaPorte had made the ultimate sacrifice on the day of the Virginia Tech massacre. based on the evidence we have seen, these citizens truly represent what it means to be a cadet. some one who embraces the ideals that promote charater, self improvement and selfless service. these are the foundations for the ability for cadets to ensure their community is safe as these cadets have demonstrated.
Major Point 2( structure of military schools, ROTC, and private military youth auxillary programs) : in order for us to understand how these military programs have the ability to forge leaders and heroes, we must look into how these organizations function and what values they teach our youth and why it is so important to have the training begin early for cadets to bring out the best of their talents.
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: the 80-year-old Valley Forge Military Academy, among the foremost schools of its kind, has led the way. in 1977, Valley Forge also introduced character education to its curriculum, classes in which cadets grapple with case studies of moral dilemmas. Today, many of those lessons are drawn from William Bennett’s best-seller, ”The Book of Virtues.” ”The idea is to develop the whole man, a man who is responsible for himself and to others, not necessarily for military service but for good citizenship,” said Gen. Al Sanelli, the academy chaplain, who is responsible for the character education program (Military schools not easy, but results are self-evident // ’90s military schools do about-face 6) military schools like Valley Forge stress courtesy to help build respect among adults and superiors. “People say that all we stress are ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir,’ ” Fleming said. “What we stress is courtesy and manners. It’s ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and ‘would you mind?’ – and ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir.’ That’s what the military is all about. If you don’t think that makes a difference with an employer, you’re wrong.” (“Military schools see end of a long decline.” 7)
Explanation: VFMA is among the top military academies in the country. it is only one of five that has an actual Junior Military Prep College. Valley forge is the only military school with a college that caters to all branches of the US military through its ROTC program and its “Prepster” program for the 5 Federal Service Academies. this is because its entirely student run corps of cadets has sucsessfuly built a reputation for producting some of the most qualified leaders that the armed services seek to have among their ranks. the structure of the academy is heirarchial. the cadets earn rank by being in good academic and moral standing. subordinates learn to respect their superiors and develop a good understanding of their role in the system. this discipline proves helpfull in future careers where the instructions and guidelines of your managers need to be respected.
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: I was prejudiced at first against this progam when it first came to the school. I think alot of people were. my first impression was oh my god theyre going to make kids run around and march and it was going to be ridiculous. no body works as hard as the JROTC instructor. i mean nobody. ill be called in at 7:00 in the morning for a PTA meeting and the JROTC instructor is allready there out on the lawn teaching over 500 cadets. (N.y./region: A Military Education 1)
Explanation: the enlightened opinion of the teachers union leader at francis lewis high. many take offense to militarism in high schools. but the introcuction of jrotc to francis lewis high has helped their unit grow to over 500 strong and they now hold the distinction of having the largest JROTC batallion nationally. this shows that with the right support, the public opinion has changed about the views of military youth organizations such as JROTC and people can see the hard work that instructors put in to teaching cadets how to about be sucsessful.
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: Fourteen members of the Roanoke division of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps were among 120 cadets who recently completed two weeks of recruit basic training at Camp Pendleton in Virginia Beach. In addition to the two-week training, the cadets, ages 13 to 16, received monthly training on topics including first aid, military customs and survival at sea. The unit’s first graduates, Joseph Cinquemani, a 2009 Lord Botetourt High School graduate, and Lucas Moffett, a 2009 Stuarts Draft High School graduate, have become midshipmen and will attend Virginia Military Institute in Lexington this fall. (“CADET UNIT REBOUNDS AND WINS RECOGNITION.” 1,3,5)
Explanation: the USNSCC is a private military cadet corps affiliated with the U.S. navy. it is similar to the united states army cadet corps and civil air patrol which serve as private auxillary forces for the armed services. cadets are exposed to these military exploration programs to get a sense of what military life is like. cadets are not required to join the military but can recieve military benifits if they choose to join. it must be understood that there are countless hours of training that goes into the forging of a cadet. much knowlage, traditions and character building is a part of the basic foundation of military training.
Major Point 3: (sucsess and rise of military schools and youth organizations)
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: Officials at Valley Forge said that they received about 7,000 inquiries from parents last year, up from 4,100 five years ago. Applications were up 10 percent last year at the 73-year-old boys’ school, which has a total enrollment of about 750.
Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga., reported that inquiries jumped from 936 in 1997 to 3,294 last year.
Oak Ridge Military Academy in Oak Ridge, N.C., saw its summer program grow from about 70 students in 1998 to almost 400 students this summer.
Benedictine High School, a Catholic, military-style day school in Richmond, Va., had a 50 percent increase in applications last year. (“Military schools see end of a long decline.” 4)

Explanation: applications to military schools are becoming more frequent due mainly to a more patriotic outlook by the genreal public of the armed services. parents and children are also seeking out military schools because of their rigorous academics, competitive sports with structured daily routines.

Supporting Point
Specific evidence: Elsewhere, military charter schools are opening.
Oakland Military Institute, set to open this fall in Oakland, Calif., received its charter after Mayor Jerry Brown lobbied local, state and federal officials for support. The Chicago public schools now have two military charter schools. And the Prince George’s County School District in Maryland recently secured federal funding to transform its lowest-performing high school into a military academy.
Charles E. Fleming, principal of one of the two Chicago military academies, said that when his school opened in 1999, he had about 900 applications for 500 spots. Now, he said, he gets 1,300 applications to fill 140 yearly openings. (“Military schools see end of a long decline.”6)
Explanation: the better image for military schools has allowed newer ones to open. with astounding support through higher enrollment and alumni dontaions, military academies are recovering financially and newer ones are beginning to develop across the nation.
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: Waiting lists of applicants are commonplace at military schools today, according to Lewis Sorley, executive director of the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States.
”A day doesn’t pass that I don’t get several phone calls from parents desperate to find a military school near them,” Sorley said.
So great is the demand that, for the first time since 1965, a new military school is being planned — a Christian military academy, the decade-old vision of Forrest Clay Wheat Sr., a retired naval officer and successful businessman in the telecommunications industry. (“Military schools not easy, but results are self-evident 3)
Explanation: now with the public opinion changing about the military, more and more parents and children are looking to enroll in military acadeimies for a head start in a military career, a more disciplined regimen to straighten out their future, an opportunity to become more fit with tough physical training, an edge in competitive sports or most of all, an academic boost in the rigourous education with the classes provided at these academies.
Major Point 4: (academic and individual potential of private military education as an alternative to public schools)
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: ”My son, military school? No way, I thought,” said the 46-year-old Paroda, who came of age during the Vietnam War. ”But his public school destroyed him, telling him he was stupid. He had no self-esteem, no future.”
In desperation, she enrolled her son at Valley Forge, where he has done an about-face: His grades have improved from a D to a B average, and he has developed self-confidence and, according to his mother, ”a real sense of right and wrong.” (“Military schools not easy, but results are self-evident // ’90s military 2)
Explanation: with the mandatory study halls and strict supervision of academics, military schools provide a perfect environment for academic acheivement. many parents see the environment as a great way for their child’s grades to exell. military schools provide a hands on learning experience in small classrooms where teachers that care greatly about the Cadet’s sucsess make themselves readily avaliable for support.
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: “with parents increasingly concerned about conduct and the lack of value-oriented curricula in some public school classrooms, military schools are filled to capacity.”(“Military schools not easy, but results are self-evident // ’90s military 1)
Explanation: Public schools are beginning to become heavily crowded. the quality of public education is going down the drain in many schools. there is more lenient regulation on who can enroll so this provides as a breeding ground for trouble makers and children who have no motivation or vision for their future. military schools can provide the structure needed to provide a safe and successful learning environment. many of the students whos actions and unmonitored behaviors push them off the deep end would not be accepted into a rigorous military academy.
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: “Admissions directors argue that the military model, with its rigid schedule and adversarial plebe system, enforces structured learning rather than turning out battle-ready students.”
“The military program at the high school level has nothing to do with putting people into military service,” said Lewis Sorley, director of the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States, a Potomac, Md.-based nonprofit organization for accredited schools with Department of Defense-approved military programs. “The military program is a means to an end, and that end is to help students gain self-discipline.” (“Military schools see end of a long decline.”10)
Explanation: The military structure is not designed to create students immediatley realy to join the military. it is a lifestyle that allows for a more structured educational process and motivates students to excell at their given career path. those looking to join the military can use these academies as a great avenue to get a head start but the education comes first.
Major Point 5: (military schools and youth programs in relation to military application.)
Supporting Point
Specific evidence : “Alec plans to enlist in the Army in the next month or two. He will train while taking classes during his senior year and enter the military after graduation. He hopes to pursue a career as a U.S. Airborne Ranger, a dream he has had since he was 6.” (“JROTC CADET RECEIVES HIGHEST HONOR FOR RESCUE )
Explanation The most deticated Cadets like Alec Leslie who have put their knowlege and feild skills to practical use and have saved lives, usually have aspirations to join the armed services. this breed of person proves highly usefull to the military. Leslie plans to also bring these practical skills and experiences into the united states military to be applied to other situations to provide for the common good.
Supporting Point
Specific evidence As the nature of warfare evolved from conflict between massed soldiers with hand weapons to high-technology land, sea, and air battles, the education and training of military personnel became more complex and more important. The sophisticated skills of almost all military personnel today have required significant improvements in institutions, qualifications of faculty and trainers, methods of imparting military knowledge, and the time required to attain proficiency. (International Military and Defense Encyclopedia. 1,2)
Explanation: with advancing militarys came the need for more advanced officer education. military skills require sophisticated training. this requires top institutions to meet those needs. through a military oriented education, cadets can recieve training early on through ROTC or the early comissioning program to become officers with more military experience.
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: Many New York schools severed their ties with the ROTC during the 1960s, when anti-war protests broke out across campuses in the Northeast. When the draft ended, the military slipped even further into the background, where it has remained ever since. In response, the Armed Forces have stopped making much of an effort to recruit in the area. Even City University of New York, the third-largest public university system in America and the one that commissioned General Colin Powell, no longer has an ROTC program. (“No More Urban Officers? How an Uneven ROTC May Change Our Military.”3)
Explanation: anti war protest during the 60’s crippled the image of the millitary in the eyes of the public. cadet corps across the nation that promoted responsibility and leadership now had their image tainted along with the armed forces they idolized. today it is tougher for commited cadets to have to commute further to recieve their training and credentials. this could greatly disrupt the balance of cultural influence in the military and the ability for ROTC to create experienced officers. in order to promote a steady flow of officers into the armed services, programs like these must be maintained.
Major Point 6: (distancing from the vietnam era and the influence of the “woodstock generation promotes the growth of military schools and cadet corps”)
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: Nationwide, military schools are posting record inquiry, application and enrollment figures for the first time since the Vietnam War, when a backlash against the military forced many schools to close. (“Military schools see end of a long decline.”3)
Explanation: backlash against military education from the vietnam war that has led to the faliure of many military schools is now reversing.
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: “David Gloss’ application to Valley Forge turns out to have corresponded with a surge of interest in military prep schools. Dissatisfied with public education and seeking more rigorous academic and social discipline for their sometimes-wayward children, parents from the Woodstock generation are increasingly turning to spit-and-polish military training.”
Explanation: parents are reffering more and more to military academies because of their rigorous academic standards and discipline and are straying away from the “woodstock genreation” for a higher education. (“Military schools see end of a long decline.”2)
Supporting Point
Specific evidence: “The resurgence in military schools reverses a decline set in motion by the nation’s division over the Vietnam War. In 1950, there were 160 military schools. Today, there are about 40.” “I think that Vietnam is no longer a consideration,” said Charles J. O’Malley, former assistant secretary for private-school education at the U.S. Department of Education and now a private education consultant. “The antimilitary feeling has somewhat dissipated. And these schools have been doing a good job for a number of years, and I think people’s attitudes toward them have become more positive.”
As a result, parents are now more willing to consider a military education for children struggling in public schools. (“Military schools see end of a long decline.” 8)
Explanation: the war in vietnam polarized public opinion about the military. it decimated the amount of military academys and left many defunct or filing for bankrupcy. now the anti military opinion is slowly changing as military academied relief themselves of the social and financial burdens of the past few decades.
Conclusion:
some of those who wear our nations uniform will go on to be the future for the face of the united state’s foreign policy. these are the ones who make a direct difference in those parts of the world that need our aid. though the image of youth military programs have been blemished, they are vital to preserve for maintaining discipline among america’s youth and promoting a strong patriotic bond between the military and civilian world. To earn the title of cadet, you need to prove yourself through hard work, detication and sacrifice. in an era where instant gratification is the norm, the cadet has become a dieing breed. just about any aspiration worth while in life requires discipline and detication. the cadet can achieve their passions because they have this and more. cadets stand out because they sometimes have to sacrifice a plush and cushy lifestyle to go through one of the toughest kinds of lifestyles a child can recieve. this is why i decided to take this path. cadets who make a difference in others lives do not seek gratification or recognition. we do not pray for an easy life. we pray to be stronger men.